481: Chapter 416: Undercover Investigation - A Celebrity Disguised as an Investigator

Karon's fall caused quite a stir in the command layer of the Seventh War Zone, but General Rex announced it as a "death in battle" and did not disclose the truth about the corruption. Morale could not be shaken; the enemy was still in the shadows.

Lin Zhou did not participate in the cleanup. He sat alone in the barracks with the Star Map marked with three missing points in front of him. Karon was dead, and the Cardinal had lost his inside man, but he was still alive. That person had fled with severe injuries but had not escaped far; he was still in some corner at the edge of the Old Universe, waiting for an opportunity.

"Captain, you have been staring at the Star Map for an hour." Qin Qing walked in carrying a cup of hot tea.

"I am thinking about the Cardinal's next target." Lin Zhou took the teacup but did not drink. "Karon is dead, so he has lost his source of intelligence regarding patrol schedules. It won't be so easy to attack supply lines again. But he won't stop; attacking supply lines is not his ultimate goal. His goal is to collect enough Return to Void energy to open the Gate of Return to Void."

"Then what will he do?"

"Change methods. Instead of attacking transport fleets, he will directly contaminate supply points. Supply points have many people and concentrated resources; contaminating one is more effective than attacking ten transport fleets."

Qin Qing's expression changed.

"Notify General Rex to strengthen the defense of all supply points. Focus on monitoring energy anomalies, especially fluctuations in Return to Void energy."

"Yes."

Qin Qing hurried away.

Lin Zhou stood up and walked to the window. Outside the window, on the fortress walls, the footsteps of the patrolling soldiers were rhythmic and heavy. In the direction of the Chaos Star Domain, gray-white fog was surging. In the fog, one could vaguely see dark red light flickering—that was the mark of the Void Sect, and also the eyes of the Cardinal.

"We cannot wait for him to make a move. We must find him first."

He turned and walked to Li Mo's laboratory.

"Li Mo, can the teleportation array imprint at the third missing point still be tracked?"

Li Mo brought up the data and shook his head: "The energy has completely dissipated. It cannot be tracked."

"What about the route the Cardinal took to escape?"

"The spatial fluctuations he left at the edge of the Old Universe have also disappeared. Unless there are more precise coordinates, it cannot be found."

Lin Zhou was silent.

"Captain, perhaps we can think in reverse." Chen Xuan walked over from the corner, holding an ancient book of the School of Names. "The route the Cardinal took to escape has disappeared, but the route he used to attack the transport fleets still has traces."

"The route used to attack transport fleets?"

"Yes. When he attacked the transport fleets, he must have started from his hiding place and reached the attack point via a teleportation array. Both the start and end points of the teleportation array would leave spatial imprints. Although the imprints dissipate over time, the speed of dissipation depends on the stability of spatial rules."

Chen Xuan pointed to the third missing point on the Star Map.

"The stability of spatial rules here is 90%, and it takes at least thirty days for the imprint to dissipate. It has only been ten-plus days, so the imprint is still there. If we can find the 'entrance' where he teleported from his hiding place to the attack point, we can reverse-track his hiding place."

"Where is the entrance?"

"Not at the third missing point. It's nearby. The teleportation array is not point-to-point, but point-to-area. The starting point is fixed, but the destination can be randomized within a certain range. To remain hidden, the Cardinal would set the destination far from the attack point and then fly there himself."

Chen Xuan zoomed in on the area around the third missing point and circled a range with a diameter of about one hundred kilometers.

"Within this range, there is an entrance imprint for a spatial teleportation array. Find it, and we can find his hiding place."

"How many days will it take?"

"Three days."

"Find it."

Over the next three days, Chen Xuan took detection equipment and searched repeatedly around the third missing point. On the evening of the third day, about eighty kilometers to the northwest, he discovered an extremely faint spatial fluctuation.

[Spatial Fluctuation · Data]

- Location: About eighty kilometers northwest of the third missing point

- Type: Spatial teleportation array entrance

- Usage time: About eleven days ago

- Direction: Coming from the depths of the Old Universe

- Tracking: Trackable, requires Spatial Origin Stone

Lin Zhou took out the Spatial Origin Stone and handed it to Chen Xuan.

"Track."

Chen Xuan embedded the Origin Stone into the detector, and silvery-white light enveloped the spatial imprint. On the detector screen, a blurred trajectory extended from the depths of the Old Universe, passing through several jumps, and finally pointed to an unknown area—there, it was the edge of the Return to Void in the Old Universe, the place where God King Wang Zhenyue had once sealed the Return to Void passage.

[Tracking Result · Coordinates]

- Direction: Edge of the Old Universe's Return to Void

- Distance: About twelve thousand kilometers

- Environment: Extremely high concentration of Return to Void energy

- Cardinal's hiding place: Estimated to be near the Seal ruins

Lin Zhou looked at the coordinates and was silent for a moment. God King Wang Zhenyue's tomb had already been taken away by him, but the ruins of the Seal of the Return to Void passage were still there. The God King's rule power remained there, naturally suppressing the Return to Void energy. By hiding there, the Cardinal could actually mask his own aura.

"Captain, should we go?" Chen Xuan asked.

"Yes. But not too many people. If there are too many, we are easily discovered." Lin Zhou thought for a moment. "You, me, Su Yueyao, and Wang Meng. Four people. Dragon Vein Golden Scale will accompany us, and the ark of Civilization Projection will be compressed to the minimum."

"Yes."

The next morning, the four-person team set off.

The ark of Civilization Projection was compressed to a diameter of ten meters, and its deep blue light was almost invisible in the gray-white fog. Dragon Vein Golden Scale coiled in Lin Zhou's Divine Kingdom, its aura masked by the Fire of Civilization. Su Yueyao's moonlight retracted to ten meters around her, the silvery-white light illuminating only the path under her feet.

[Reconnaissance Team · Data]

- Number of people: 4

- Equipment: Civilization Armor · Reinforced Version, Rule Plague Purification Talisman

- ark of Civilization Projection: Diameter of ten meters, consumption of 1000 Divine Power per minute

- Dragon Vein Golden Scale: Accompanying

After marching for three days, they reached the edge of the Old Universe's Return to Void.

The scene before them silenced everyone. The ruins of God King Wang Zhenyue's Seal floated in the Void Realm like a huge ruin. The base of the ruins was the wreckage of the God King's former Divine Kingdom, with a diameter of about three hundred kilometers. The surface of the wreckage was covered with gray-white Return to Void energy, but it was much thinner than the surrounding areas—the Seal was still working.

[Seal Ruins · Data]

- Location: Edge of the Old Universe's Return to Void

- Type: God King Seal Ruins

- Diameter: About three hundred kilometers

- Return to Void energy concentration: Fifty times that of the outside (edge); one hundred times (center)

- Cardinal's hiding place: Estimated to be in the center of the ruins

"Captain, he is inside." Su Yueyao's moonlight sensed the abnormal fluctuation of Return to Void energy.

"Go in."

The four infiltrated the ruins.

Wang Meng led the way, Lin Zhou was in the middle, Chen Xuan was at the back, and Su Yueyao was at the very end providing moonlight illumination. The ark of Civilization Projection enveloped the four, and the deep blue light was like a ghost in the gray-white ruins.

[Infiltration · Status]

- Depth: 50 kilometers

- Return to Void energy concentration: Sixty times that of the outside

- Civilization Projection consumption: 3000 Divine Power per minute

- Suspicious energy fluctuation detected: 1 time

When they reached a depth of one hundred kilometers, there were more architectural remains in the ruins. There were runic inscriptions of God King Wang Zhenyue on the remains, which, although eroded by Return to Void energy for millions of years, still emitted a faint light. Lin Zhou walked to a piece of wreckage and reached out to touch it—the runes responded to his Fire of Civilization, and golden light danced on his fingertips.

"The God King's rules are still there." He whispered.

"It's a pity that he is no longer here." Su Yueyao said softly.

The team continued to go deeper. When they reached two hundred kilometers, a semi-collapsed building appeared in the center of the ruins—the former palace of God King Wang Zhenyue. The roof of the palace had collapsed, and the walls were covered with cracks, but the structure of the palace remained. In the center of the palace, a dark red light was flickering.

[Cardinal · Location Confirmed]

- Location: Inside the palace at the center of the ruins

- Status: Seriously injured (Divinity completeness 30%)

- Surroundings: No guards (cultists are dead or injured)

"He is alone." Wang Meng gripped his battle axe.

"No. There is something else." Lin Zhou stared at the dark red light. "He is trying to open the Gate of Return to Void."

He quickened his pace and rushed towards the palace.

Inside the palace, the Cardinal sat cross-legged in the ruins. His left arm was broken and bandaged with dark red cloth. In front of him floated a huge Return to Void energy core—larger than any one seized before, with a diameter of about two meters. The core was rotating slowly, and every time it rotated, gray-white Return to Void energy surged out from the core, condensing into the prototype of a door frame in the Void Realm.

[Gate of Return to Void · Prototype]

- Form: Door frame (50 meters high, 30 meters wide)

- Completion: 10%

- Energy source: Return to Void energy core

- Danger: If completed, it will open a passage to the depths of the Return to Void

"Mortals, you still found this place." The Cardinal's voice was hoarse. He opened his eyes, and dark red flames burned in his pupils. "But you are late. The Gate of Return to Void is about to open, and the Void will eventually descend."

"The gate hasn't opened yet." Lin Zhou raised his hand, and the Fire of Civilization condensed in his palm. "It's not too late."

"You cannot stop it." The Cardinal stood up abruptly, burning his last bit of Divinity. "Return to Void — Descend!"

He pounced on Lin Zhou.

Wang Meng rushed forward, his battle axe hacking at the Cardinal's head. The Cardinal dodged, but Wang Meng's axe was too fast, slashing across his right shoulder.

[Cardinal · Status]

- Divinity completeness: 30% → 20%

- Right shoulder: Seriously injured

Lin Zhou ignored the Cardinal and walked straight towards the prototype of the Gate of Return to Void. He raised his hand, and the river of civilization surged out from his Divine Kingdom, flowing towards the door frame and the core.

[river of civilization · Purification Mode]

- Target: Return to Void energy core

- Consumption: 100,000 Divine Power per minute

- Effect: Strip away Return to Void energy, transform into Essence of Order

The dark red light of the core began to fade, and the gray-white of the door frame began to lighten. The Cardinal went mad; he pounced on Lin Zhou but was blocked by Su Yueyao's moonlight.

"Your opponent is us." Su Yueyao raised her hand, and silvery-white light enveloped the Cardinal.

The battle lasted for about ten minutes. The Cardinal's Divinity completeness dropped from 20% to 10%, then to 5%, and finally to zero. He fell into the ruins, his body turning into gray-white light spots and dissipating.

[Cardinal · Fallen]

The Return to Void energy core was completely purified, and the door frame collapsed.

Lin Zhou retracted the river of civilization and knelt on one knee.

"Captain!" Su Yueyao rushed over.

"It's fine. Just a large consumption of Divine Power." Lin Zhou stood up and looked at the purified crystal—it was no longer dark red, but a golden Heart of Order.

[Heart of Order · Obtained]

- Source: Return to Void energy core purification

- Size: Two meters in diameter

- Value: Can significantly increase the efficiency of the civilization furnace

- Effect: civilization furnace conversion efficiency + 50%, daily output + 5 million Divine Power

"Captain, the Cardinal is dead. Is the Void Sect completely finished?" Wang Meng asked.

Lin Zhou shook his head. "The White Bishop is dead, and two of the three Cardinals are also dead. There is still one left, and I don't know where he is hiding. Moreover, as long as there are people who fear death and fear the Void, the Void Sect will be reborn."

"Then what should we do?"

Lin Zhou looked towards the direction of the New Universe.

"Guard the New Universe and develop the Way of Civilization. Let more people understand that living itself has meaning; there is no need for the Return to Void to define eternity."

He turned and led the team away from the ruins.

After returning to the fortress, Lin Zhou integrated the Heart of Order into the civilization furnace. The furnace's efficiency increased by 50%, and the daily output reached 15 million Divine Power.

General Rex looked at the report and was silent for a long time.

"Lin Zhou, you saved the New Universe."

"It wasn't just me."

"I know." General Rex handed him a document. "The Expeditionary Force headquarters has specially approved the promotion of the Civilization Guardian Legion to an independent legion. Your military rank is promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General."

[Lin Zhou · Military Rank Promotion]

- Original rank: Colonel

- New rank: Brigadier General

- Reason: Eliminating the remnants of the Void Sect and capturing the Heart of Order

- Effective date: Today

Lin Zhou looked at the new star added to his epaulets and was silent.

"General, this is not just my credit."

"Therefore, your subordinates have also been promoted." General Rex pointed to the list at the back of the document. "Wang Meng is promoted to Colonel, Qin Qing is promoted to Colonel, Chen Xuan is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Li Mo has received the Special Award for Scientific Contribution of the Expeditionary Force."

Lin Zhou nodded.

"General, the matter of the Void Sect is not over yet. The last Cardinal is still in the shadows."

"I know. Therefore, I need you to continue investigating."

"Yes."

Lin Zhou walked out of the headquarters.

Qin Qing was waiting for him on the city wall.

"Captain, you are a Brigadier General now."

"Hmm."

"You don't seem happy."

Lin Zhou looked towards the direction of the Chaos Star Domain.

"The higher the rank, the greater the responsibility. Before, I was only responsible for my own legion. Now, I have to be responsible for the entire Seventh War Zone."

"You can do it."

"Perhaps."